Spinach and Bowtie Chicken Salad

The first time I tried this recipe was at Miki's baby blessing dinner. Wendy's sister Kris made it and I fell in love...with Kris and the Salad! It makes a LOT of salad (two big salad bowls) and is great for a large crowd. Everyone is still talking about it! (Not my photo, but I love the idea of adding the sesame seeds to it too!)

Dressing:

Blend in blender until smooth:

1 c veggie oil (Kris used 1/2 c olive and 1/2 cup canola)

2/3 c White wine vinegar

2/3 c teriyaki sauce (Kris used kikoman teriyaki marinade)

6 T Sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Cook 12oz Bowtie Pasta. Rinse and drain.

Add to dressing and refrigerate 2 hours or over night. When ready to serve add:

4-5 Cooked chicken breast

1 bunch chopped green onion

3-6 oz cans mandarin oranges

6oz craisins

6oz honey roasted sliced almonds

spinach 28-32oz

Toss all and serve immediately (You can toss all except spinach a head of time, refrigerate and add spinach right before serving.) Enjoy!

Fajita Night!

Doug and I hosted 4 siblings dinners a year for two years and this had to be my favorite. Everyone was assigned what to bring for the fixings and we had so so much food!

The menu:
Steak or chicken fajitas with peppers, onions, mushrooms and fresh Cilantro

Spanish Rice

Guacomole

Spanish Beans

Pepper Jack and Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Sour Cream

SalsaChips

Pina Colada Slush

Citrus Water

Tres Leche with fresh strawberries

The table:It was just fun to have everyone in the kitchen, chopping, cooking, laughing and then we all assembled our own fajitas. A most tasty dinner and fun excuse to use my fiesta plates!

I hung a few battery powered paper lamps over the table just for fun.

The pina colada drink is to die for! To frost the glasses, I called Chili's and talked to the bartender there (being that I have no clue what they put on alcoholic drinks... I just know that they are pretty.) They told me to dip the rim of the glass in pineapple juice then to dip the wet glass rim in a bowl of sugar. Voila!

After each meal, we sit around the table and enjoy the tabletalk, so there were peanuts, burnt peanuts, hot tomales and other sugary treats to just munch while we gab.

The questions for tabletalk:
Table talk questions:
What would you say is the most important material "thing" in your life right now?

What's a typical day in your life right now?

If you could, what would you change in your life right now?

What's the first thing you think about in the morning?

What do you think is your most valuable role in your life at this moment?

If you could be someone else for a day, who would that be? Why?

What do you do every day that you would love to hire someone else to do for you?

What rituals do you go through every day for the sake of your good looks?

What are your favorite words to live by?

Who do you talk on the phone to more than anyone else?

Aside from the temple or the ranch, Is there a place you've been that made you feel closer to heaven?

Can you pinpoint any one moment in life that you'd call a "turning point"?

What mannerisms would you say that you have that are strikingly similar to one of your parents?

Aside from Christ, who in your life have you tried to pattern yourself after more than anyone else?

What one experience would you count as the highlight of the last five years?

What has been your greatest success and what did you learn from it?

Do you feel that you are a better parent than your parents were and why or why not?

What is the happiest memory of your childhood?

What song did you sing as a child that you've taught your children to sing as well?

What prejudices have you overcome that you once had? How?

What are you teaching your children about life that you did not know as a child?

What character traits do you think that you have passed on to your children?

How is your life different today than you pictured it being ten years ago?

Aside from the Sunday School answers (pray & study scriptures), what's something that you do every single day that you could not go a day without doing?


What would you say is the most important material "thing" in your life right now?

What's a typical day in your life right now?

If you could, what would you change in your life right now?

What's the first thing you think about in the morning?

What do you think is your most valuable role in your life at this moment?

If you could be someone else for a day, who would that be? Why?

What do you do every day that you would love to hire someone else to do for you?

What rituals do you go through every day for the sake of your good looks?

What are your favorite words to live by?

Who do you talk on the phone to more than anyone else?

Aside from the temple or the ranch, Is there a place you've been that made you feel closer to heaven?

Can you pinpoint any one moment in life that you'd call a "turning point"?

What mannerisms would you say that you have that are strikingly similar to one of your parents?

Aside from Christ, who in your life have you tried to pattern yourself after more than anyone else?

What one experience would you count as the highlight of the last five years?

What has been your greatest success and what did you learn from it?

Do you feel that you are a better parent than your parents were and why or why not?

What is the happiest memory of your childhood?

What song did you sing as a child that you've taught your children to sing as well?

What prejudices have you overcome that you once had? How?

What are you teaching your children about life that you did not know as a child?

What character traits do you think that you have passed on to your children?

How is your life different today than you pictured it being ten years ago?

Aside from the Sunday School answers (pray & study scriptures), what's something that you do every single day that you could not go a day without doing?

Harvest Cook-Off

A fall harvest dinner/“Cook-Off“that was actually held last September. Our Senior Singles Family Home Evening was a delightful little "cook-off" where the seniors brought some of their favorite recipes to be served in addition to Connie’s incredible vegetable-beef soup and Sophia’s homemade whole wheat bread. Everyone else's dishes made for quite the feast! We had amazing baked carrots, several sweet treats, chicken salad on puff tarts, an awesome pasta salad, coleslaw…fabulous foods!

The tablescape was all about food and harvest and preserving, with a bountiful basket of garden produce and preserved goods to go along with the devotional message about spiritual self-reliance.A few empty canning jars with small votive candles inside them brought a little extra light!

For table talk, each Senior was asked to tell about their favorite thing that their mother cooked. The conversation was fascinating. The foods that these seniors ate as children included lots of "bread and milk", mushes made from things that I'd never heard of and many other foods that we'd never consider today as a "staple".

My sister-in-law grows some of the most fascinating flowers and vegetables in her garden and the basket/centerpiece was filled with many of them. Beautimous, if I do say so myself!

Easy Roasted Tomatoes

Blogging friend, Laura, sent me this recipe last fall when I had fifty-six tomato plants ripening by the dozens every day. After canning 120 quarts of tomatoes, 100+ quarts of salsa, giving away 15 bushels of tomatoes, I still had tomatoes coming out my ears! Thankfully! This was one of our favorite ways to prepare the tomatoes. They can be eaten right out of the oven or put in freezer bags for winter. Serve them over pasta or put them into soups. Anyway around it, they are fabulous!

Cut tomatoes into to small pieces (no need to blanch or peel!) Snip fresh basil on top. Press about 10-12 cloves of garlic. (I buy garlic by the quart at Sam's Club and add tablespoons.) Add Sea-salt, lots of pepper, and sugar (Lara uses Splenda or Stevia)Sprinkle extra-virgin olive oil over the top. Mix with your hands. Roast at 450 for an hour or longer, stirring once. You can roast with juices left in the pan, or until the juices are evaporated. Enjoy!

Connie's chocolate cakes

Connie is one of my favorite cooks in this world. Her homemade caramels and handdipped chocolates are divine... as in truly heavenly. Connie is one of those friends that everyone dreams of because I can break a fingernail and she's there with something fresh and nummy to make me feel better. My two favorite things that she makes, however, are her chocolate cakes. The cake is homemade and moist and marvelous. But. The frostings. Oh. My. Heck. They are out of this world delish. I can't share the recipes without sharing this story....

For almost thirty years now, I've been "expected" to take my secret brownies to every single Corbridge family event ever held. This past summer, on the week of the Corbridge Reunion in our back yard, I was overwhelmingly busy with things to do, including host the reunion and teach Relief Society the next day. The whole week was a blur of business. Connie, being Connie, offered several times to help. Finally, I took her up on the offer and she baked her delicious German Chocolate Cake for me. On the day of the reunion, it was a hit to all who tried it. Fast forward two weeks, when my nephew was leaving for his LDS mission and the family dinner was to be held following church. As my sister-in-law was handing out food assignments and checking off her list, she asked that I make... me expecting "what else but brownies".... that nummy german chocolate cake that we had at the reunion! My brownies had been forgotten!

Now for the rest of the story... I had another insane week with more than any sane woman should ever have on her plate, the week of the Farewell. The night before, I was just about in panic mode after baking two cakes before frosting the cakes. Connie came over and basically said, "Move over. Let me do it." and made the german chocolate frosting. The next morning, with me in Overdrive and still trying to catch up with the To Do list and being prepared to reach my Relief Society lesson, I ended up staying home in our ward and Doug took off to the mission farewell. As he loaded the kids, he placed my much stressed over cakes on the roof of his van and took off down the street. The crashing noise that he heard was "an angel catching the cakes and placing them not so gently right side up on the street!", according to Doug. Needless to say, not wanting me to totally meltdown, he picked them up off the street and headed to the family gathering. I found out about the accident after the fact, thanks to a wise husband and a wise sister-in-law, who insisted, "Soph will be better off not knowing about this." They scooped the scrambled cakes into plates and served them anyway. Everyone said they tasted great, regardless of how they looked. Seriously. MUST TRY Recipes!

CHOCOLATE CAKE

2 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cube butter or margarine, softened
4 TBS. Cocoa – I use heaping spoons full

¾ cup water
¾ cup cooking oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ tsp. soda
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs
½ cup milk
Put first four ingredients in mixing bowl.
Bring oil and water to a boil and pour over ingredients in mixing bowl - beat together.
Add eggs, vanilla, soda and salt – mix well.
Add milk - mix well - pour into greased and floured 9 x 13 cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. My oven will bake the cake in 28 minutes.

German Chocolate Frosting
1 cup cream
3 egg yolks - beaten
1 cup sugar
1 square butter or margarine
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a slow boil and cook 3 or 4 minutes or until mixture appears it has thickened.
Remove from heat - Add 8-10 ounces of coconut and 1 – 2 cups of chopped pecans, walnuts or sliced almonds - more if you like.
Pour over cake and let cool before cutting.

Plain chocolate frosting
1 lb. powdered sugar
¼ cup cocoa
1 cube butter or margarine softened
½ - ¾ tsp. almond flavoring – more if desired
Slowly add enough milk to desired spreading consistency

Enjoy!

Summer Garden Casserole

We made this simple and healthy casserole at our Relief Society Activity Night as a group, then each of us brought one home for dinner tonight. All of the women loved it and I can't wait to bake mine this afternoon. It's a great way to use some of the zucchini that gets piled up during the harvest season of the year! Loved it and it's so versatile. There were no specific amounts to any of the ingredients. It's a "little of this and a little of that" type recipe.

Layer loosely in the pan...(enough to cover the layer below)
chopped zucchini (quartered lengthwise then sliced)

chopped carrots (quartered lengthwise, then sliced)

salt and pepper to taste

frozen corn or fresh corn cut off the cob

about 1/2 cup uncooked rice

finely chopped onion

browned hamburger (cooked with onions and peppers or how you like it...mine had garlic too)salt and pepper again to taste

Pour tomato juice over the entire thing (don't make things float, but add enough that it will moisten everything in the pan). Cover with foil and bake for 2 hours at 350 degrees. Enjoy!

Fresh Peach Cobbler

Oh my gosh! This is so dang good! This recipe was a combination recipe. I used the fruit recipe from a friend and the cobbler from my sister-in-law's mother's recipe. Together, we've made the perfect pair! It's a little labor intensive, but, this is seriously one great cobbler! It was so good that it didn't need ice cream!

1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

8 cups sliced peaches

2 tsp. lemon juice

Peel and slice peaches. (To peel peaches quickly, drop whole peach into a pan of boiling water. Leave in water about ten seconds then remove and drop into cold water. The skin will just slip off.) Put peaches in a large saucepan and cover with above ingredients. Cook, stirring constantly until it thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute and pour into an ungreased 9x13" pan.

(One of my favorite cooking tips is used with butter. Whenever a recipe tells you to "cut" in the butter, chill the butter and then shred it into the flour with a large cheese grater. The butter melts in perfectly during baking!)

2 cups flour

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix well and cut in 1/2 cup butter

Then, mix:

1/2 cup milk

2 slightly beaten eggs

Toss the liquid mixture into the dry mixture but do not mix too much. Drop by spoonfuls on the hot fruit. Pat smooth. Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the topping is golden. Serve warm with ice cream or half and half.

I loved this recipe! Make sure to be generous with the sugar on top of the cobbler before baking and I even added a touch more after for looks. ENJOY!

Great ways to use French Bread

French Bread is one of the most versatile breads ever. I use it frequently and quite often, it becomes the main dish. Here's a few of our favorite ways to serve it:

• Slice it in half lengthwise. Cover both halves with a tuna fish spread. (2 cans tuna, mayo to taste, about 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish, salt and pepper) Then, top with sliced fresh tomatoes, more salt and pepper. Smother in shredded colby-jack cheese. Broil on low with the oven door open until the cheese is melted or bake for about fifteen minutes.


• Slice it in half lengthwise. Spread your favorite or leftover spaghetti sauce. Cover with your favorite pizza toppings. Smother in mozzarella cheese. Bake or broil.


• Slice it in half lengthwise. Cover with a fresh breshetta. Load it up with salt and pepper and fresh Romano cheese. Broil or bake.


• Slice it in half lengthwise. Cover with ground hamburger (cooked with peppers, onions and garlic) OR shredded chicken or pork. Cover with BBQ sauce. Cover with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake or broil till cheese is melted.


• Slice it in half lengthwise. Chop a mixture of your favorite veggies finely or in a food processor. (We use broccoli, carrots, green onions, tomatoes...) In another bowl, mix 1 cup ranch dressing and 8 ounces of cream cheese. (Or add ranch until spreadable consistency.) Spread the ranch and cream cheese mixture. Cover entire bread with veggies. Eat fresh!


• Use leftover french bread for french toast. Slice into 1" slices. VERY good!


• Mix up some fantastic spinach artichoke dip or sausage and cheese dip, let everyone just tear the bread and dip! Num! Serve with a good salad and you've got a great quick meal!

Enjoy!

Fabulous French Bread

I discovered this fabulous and simple french bread recipe a while ago and we all loved it so much, I could bake it a few times a week. This recipe makes two large loaves and the longer you let it raise, the better and lighter the bread is, so start it early.

2 1/4 cups warm water

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. dry yeast

1 tbsp. shortening

1 tbsp. salt

6 cups flour

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Mix in the remaining ingredients, adding the flour slowly. Knead for five minutes. Let raise until double. Divide the dough in half and roll out into 12x6" rectangle, then roll the dough to make a long french loaf. Slash the top of the loaves three times diagonally with a sharp knife. OR make two large balls of dough and slash a diagonal tic-tac-toe board on top. (Serve this way as pull-apart bread instead of slices.) Raise until doubled. Bake on greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle the pan with corn meal, if desired. Just before baking, brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Cool a bit before cutting. Enjoy!

Hyde Park Honey Cookies

These cookies were made by my sister-in-law and became a favorite in our house instantly. They are quite a bit like snickerdoodles but much tastier and moister. I always double the batch and we never have leftovers.

2/3 cup oil (I usually only use 1/2 cup and they are still plenty moist)

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

2 tsp. soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. cinnamon and 1/c up sugar (to roll the cookies in)

Mix oil, sugar and honey. Add eggs and vanilla. Add flour, soda, salt and vanilla. Form 1" balls and roll in cinnamnon sugar mixture. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350 for ten minutes. If doubling, do not double the soda, just add 1 teaspoon per and also go scant on the flour and salt.

Ruby's Raw Apple Cake

Since apples are so plentiful right now, here's a traditional Thanksgiving dessert served at our house, but it's delish anytime, especially in the fall! This is the recipe that I use from my own mother's kitchen and it will be one of those "passed down for generations" recipes, I hope. I have to laugh because I can literally smell the cake baking right now, just thinking about it!

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cup oil (I'm thinking of trying half oil and half applesauce next time I bake this.)

3 cups flour

3 cups shredded raw apples

1 cup chopped pecans

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

Cream oil and sugar together. Add eggs. Mix dry ingredients in. Add apples, vanilla and nuts. VERY THICK. Pour into greased floured bundt pan. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes at 350°. Dust with powdered sugar when completely cool. Store loosely covered. Enjoy!

Fire and Ice

I only wish I'd had my camera last night at Book Group to photograph this very pretty and most tasty appetizer! April, fabulous friend and hostess, loved the name of them as much as the taste. This was a beautiful treat and I'll be making them soon so that I can add a photograph to the recipe. A must try, if you love fresh tomatoes! So simple! I can also see them served at Christmas because they are the perfect colors!

6 tomatoes

3 cucumbers

1 red onion

Slice the tomatoes about 3/8" thick. Slice the cucumbers about 1/4" thick. Place the tomatoes on a serving platter. Put one cucumber slice on each tomato slice.

1 pint sour cream

4 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

a dash of Tabasco Sauce (I'd add a bit more for some more fire!)

Mix the topping. Drop by spoonful onto the cucumber/tomato and then add a finely sliced sliver of the onion on top of that. OH MY! Enjoy

Julie's Wonder Dough!

While at a girls night out at the ranch last winter, Julie and Erin made Navajo Tacos that were to die for! Not only were they delish, they made them in no time flat! When they went into the kitchen to prepare dinner, I figured it would be 2 hours before we ate. We were eating in 30 minutes. They'd made Indian Frybread or Scones from scratch. I call them donuts without sugar. VERY TASTY. This is one of the most versatile things you'll ever cook and so so simple! A must try recipe!

1 Tbsp. dry yeast

1 Tbsp. Sugar

1 cup warm water

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups flour

2 Tbsp. olive or vegetable oil

Mix the yeast and sugar in warm water until bubbly and fluffy. (Let it sit for five minutes.) Add salt, oil and flour. Stir 20 times with a fork. Let rise about fifteen minutes.

For pizza: Bake 20-25 minutes at 450 degrees. Use all the dough to make one large pizza or split in half for a thinner crust. *For crispy crust, roll out in corn meal. (Yummy.)

Breadsticks

Roll out dough, cut and twist into strips. Coat with garlic butter and/or cheese. Bake 20 minutes or until golden.

Fry bread/scones

Stretch or roll dough out flat and fry in hot oil (375 degrees) until golden.

For Navajo Tacos: Serve all the toppings along with the fry bread and let your guest add what they'd like. Choose from:

Browned ground beef with onions, peppers and taco seasoning mix

Refried beans, pinto beans, chili

shredded cheddar cheese

lettuce

onions

olives

tomatoes

any of your favorite taco toppings

top with salsa and ranch dressing!

OR

Serve the scones for breakfast with a choice of toppings:

Jams and Jellies

Honey Butter

Powdered sugar

cinnamon sugar

Sugar

A powdered sugar glaze

fresh fruit and whipping cream

ENJOY!!!